He suffered a dislocated wrist in a game yesterday against the Green Bay Packers. From the Chicago Tribune-
Brian Urlacher appears to be out for the season after dislocating his right wrist, the linebacker said Monday. The team has not given the official word, but Lovie Smith is expected to address the issue during his afternoon press conference.
Urlacher injured his wrist in the first quarter of Sunday’s 21-15 loss to the Packers. He was ruled out after halftime.
When asked about his status Monday, Urlacher said in a text message that his “season is over.”
He was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday morning upon the team’s arrival back in Chicago from Green Bay. A dislocated bone had to be surgerically put back in. The surgery might have revealed more extensive damage.
If I had to make a guess, its that there is nerve damage to Urlacher’s wrist and not just a dislocation. The Bears chances of winning of the NFC North have been significantly decreased by this injury. Urlacher is a six-time Pro Bowler.
He becomes the first MLB to record 200 hits in nine consecutive seasons. From AP-
Ichiro beat out an infield single to become the first player in major league history with at least 200 in nine straight seasons as the Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-0 to split a doubleheader after losing the opener 7-2.
In his second at-bat of the nightcap, Suzuki hit a slow roller to shortstop Elvis Andrus, beating the throw for No. 200 and driving in a run for a 2-0 lead.
Suzuki, who went 1 for 5 in the second game, received a standing ovation from the sparse crowd, stepping off first base and doffing his batting helmet to thank the fans.
The old record, held by Wee Willie Keeler, had stood for 108 years. I think its a foregone conclusion that Suzuki will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame one day. The only way he won’t is if some scandal overwhelms his accomplishments.
The Rays are in the midst of their worst losing streak since 2007. From AP-
Dustin Pedroia’s opposite-field power surprised almost everyone, including Boston manager Terry Francona.
The 5-foot-9 Pedroia hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer to right field in the eighth inning and the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay 3-1 on Sunday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader, sending the Rays to their 10th straight loss.
*****
Victor Martinez added an RBI single for Boston and blocked the plate on a tag play that prevented Tampa Bay from taking the lead.
I saw the video of Martinez blocking home play on the play in question. He did a great job, but baseball umpires have really let some rules lapse. A baserunner is supposed to not be obstructed from getting to the next base but the rule is read so that if the fielder is attempting to field the ball, the obstruction is legal. That loophole is huge and catchers take advantage of it.
The Red Sox, who lead the AL wild-card race, won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Tampa Bay is on its longest losing streak since dropping 11 straight in 2007.
Tampa won’t be going to the playoffs this year. One of the reasons for their slump-
Tampa Bay DH Pat Burrell is in a 1-for-18 slump.
Memo to Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Madden. Joe, a DH’s only job is to help his team with his hitting. If he stops hitting, get him the hell out of the lineup and put someone else in! Oh you don’t have much of a bench because you feel the need to have 8 relief pitchers. That sounds at least as dumb as using a DH who can’t hit.(Burrell has a .386 Slugging Pct for 2009, which is awful for a DH)
The hapless Bengals can’t ever get a break. From AP-
Brandon Stokley caught the deflected pass, turned and looked upfield. Nobody stood between him and the end zone.
Unbelievable!
In the time it takes to sprint the length of the field, Stokley ran Denver out of a crushing loss and into franchise lore. His 87-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left on Sunday provided a 12-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, who are going to need a long time to recover from this one.
*****
Down to desperation, Orton threw a sideline pass that was nearly intercepted. The next play was a throw to the other sideline for Brandon Marshall, who was blanketed. Cornerback Leon Hall cut in front, went up for the ball and tipped it into the air.
The carom went to Stokley, who couldn’t believe his luck as he headed for the end zone, running sideways a few steps to kill time before finally crossing in.
Here’s the Youtube video of the play. One of the announcers compares it to John Mackey’s catch in Super Bowl V.
She won the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship in a 3-way playoff. On the second hole of sudden death, Shin rolled in a birdie putt to defeat Angela Stanford and Sun Young Yoo.
Going into today, Shin was 7 shots behind the leader Song Hee Kim. Kim had over 700,000 in earnings for the year but had yet to crack the winner’s circle. Kim was never able to gain momentum today and missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have enabled her to join the playoff. Instead Kim finished tied for 4th.
Korean-American golfer Jane Park made an early Sunday. She pulled into a tie for the lead at the 5th hole. After that, Park played the next 12 holes in 8 over par and finished tied for 21st.
Shi-Hyun ‘Cinderella’ Ahn had her best finish of the 2009. Unable to birdie 18, she finished tied for 4th with Song Hee Kim. South Koreans were all over the leaderboard. They accounted for 8 of the top 13 finishers in the tournament.
The golf was on at 1 p.m. Florida time but I didn’t begin watching till almost the end of regulation play. Instead I had the Miami Dolphin game on. The less said about Atlanta’s 19-7 win over the fins, the better.
Shin shot a final round 64 to post a score of nine under par. Then Shin had to wait over two hours to see if anyone caught or beat her.
Stanford eagled the 18th hole to catch Shin and Yoo made a birdie at the closing hole.
The playoff started at the par 5 18th. Shin and Stanford came up short in their efforts to drive the green in two. Yoo hit the green but her ball came in hot and ended up in a back bunker. All three golfers hit their 3rd shots to within 5 feet of the hole and each made their birdie putts.
Next came the 15th hole, a par-3 with water in front. Yoo, named course clown by the South Korean players on tour, came dangerously close to the water but ended up on dry land short of the green. Stanford and Shin hit the green and ended up 30 and 12 feet away respectively. Yoo was the first to play and put her 2nd shot about two feet from the hole. Stanford’s birdie putt narrowly missed. Shin rolled her putt in for the victory.
As Shin was being interviewed for Golf Channel, she received the customary dousing in champagne that LPGA tournament winners get these days. Except it was not done by any of the South Korean players but Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel instead.
With her 3rd win, Shin has the most of any golfer on the LPGA Tour in 2009, Shin has climbed to the top of the money list. She leads Cristie Kerr by a little over $100,000. Shin also has the most points for LPGA Player of the Year. No South Korean, not even Se Ri Pak, has ever won player of the year or been leading money winner for a year. The LPGA still has two months to go before finishing up for the year and both races have anywhere from 3-5 players competing for them. I predicted Shin to be both Rookie and Player of the Year before the season started, and I hope she pulls it off. Then I’ll have at least(but not many more if any at all) two golf precdictions right for this year. I picked Brittany Lincicome to be comeback player of the year. Lincicome has that award put away already with her Kraft Nabisco win.
Shin’s win has to lock her up the 2009 Rookie of the Year award. Yes she is eligible for it in spite of winning three LPGA events in 2008. She did that while not a tour member, so Shin is considered a rookie in 2009.
The 2009 Formula One season continues to be unpredictable. From AP-
Rubens Barrichello picked up his second win in three races to lead Brawn GP to a 1-2 finish at the Italian Grand Prix that tightened the Formula One title fight.
Barrichello and teammate Jenson Button both used one-stop strategies to get the sweep at the Monza circuit on Sunday.
Former Ferrari driver Barrichello shaved two points off Button’s overall lead by getting within 14 points with four races remaining.
Lewis Hamilton of McLaren crashed on his final lap while running third. That allowed Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari to take the final podium spot.
Button remains the favorite for the driving title but he isn’t a lock. IMHO he will win, but narrowly.
IMHO last night was the lowest moment in women’s tennis in the last 30 years. From ESPN-
Serena Williams’ U.S. Open title defense ended in bizarre, ugly fashion Saturday night, when she was penalized a point on match point after yelling and shaking her racket in the direction of an official who called a foot fault.
Williams lost to unseeded, unranked Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-5 in a taut semifinal that featured plenty of powerful groundstrokes by both women. No one will remember a single shot that was struck, though, because of the unusual, dramatic way it finished.
With Williams serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, she faulted on her first serve. On the second serve, a line judge called a foot fault, making it a double-fault — a call rarely, if ever, seen at that stage of any match, let alone the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
Complete Results
Need the scores from any match played at the U.S. Open today? Results
That made the score 15-40, putting Clijsters one point from victory.
Instead of stepping to the baseline to serve again, Williams went over and shouted and cursed at the line judge, pointing at her and shaking a ball at her.
Dropping the f-word liberally, Williams said, “I swear to God I’m [expletive] going to take this [expletive] ball and shove it down your [expletive] throat, you hear that? I swear to God.”
The line judge was called over to the chair umpire, and tournament referee Brian Earley joined in the conversation. With the crowd booing — making part of the dialogue inaudible — Williams then went over and said to the line judge: “Sorry, but there are a lot of people who’ve said way worse.” Then the line judge said something to the chair umpire, and Williams responded, “I didn’t say I would kill you. Are you serious? I didn’t say that.” The line judge replied by shaking her head and saying, “Yes.”
Williams already had been given a code violation warning when she broke her racket after losing the first set. So the chair umpire now awarded a penalty point to Clijsters, ending the match.
Williams behavior was very unsportsmanlike. I don’t think the penalty point was unwarranted at all.
Have the Sharks found the player tyoo lead them to a Stanley Cup? From AP-
The Ottawa Senators traded disgruntled winger Dany Heatley to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, ending a lingering dispute with a player who felt he was not being used properly by the team.
The Sharks gave up Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second-round pick. Ottawa also sent a fifth-round pick to San Jose.
The trade on the opening day of training camp ends a clash that has overshadowed the Senators in recent months.
The 28-year-old Heatley said he wanted out of Ottawa because he wasn’t being used properly. But he angered fans when he refused to waive a no-trade clause to move to Edmonton.
“When I signed in Ottawa two years ago, I felt it was to be an integral part of the team,” Heatley said in August. “Over the last two years and more recently over the past year, I feel my role was diminished. This past season, it diminished a lot more.
“I’m a player who can play in a lot of different situations. I don’t feel I was given that role on the team. I’d like the opportunity to go somewhere where I can play to the best of my capabilities and be the player I can be.”
The Sharks beef up their offense by acquiring a former 50-goal scorer. Heatley had 39 goals and 33 assists last season.
Heatley has 260 goals and 283 assists in 507 regular games, split between Atlanta and Ottawa. He is due to make $8 million this year.
Michalek, a 24-year-old winger from the Czech Republic, had 23 goals and 24 assists in 77 games last season. His salary is $3.5 million this year.
The 29-year-old Cheechoo, a hard-nosed winger, had 12 goals and 17 assists last season. He’s due to make $3.5 million this season.
From the point of view of what talent was exchanged, San Jose came out on top. When everything else is considered, I think Ottawa was a winner. Heatley is a very unhappy person in Ottaw, even though he was the Senators leading scorer and the team’s first or second most valuable player on ice.(A strong argument can be made that Forward Daniel Alfredsson is better than Heatley.) Heatley wanted out of Ottawa, claiming his role was diminished there but how so was it diminished. What’s really at play here is that Heatley is a troubled young man. His reckless driving killed his best friend and teammate Dan Snyder in 2003. NHL fans and Snyder’s family forgave Heatley but I’m pretty certain Heatley hasn’t been able to forgive himself and that’s why he asked for a trade from Atlanta in 2005 and his most recent trade out of 2009. He’s looking for a place to be comfortable. Heatley will never be comfortable anywhere he lives till he forgives himself. I don’t think that will happen before his hockey days are over. Playing the sport is a constant reminder of his friend who unlike him can’t play the sport they both loved so much.
They along with their coach, have been confined to their training base in Western China. From APv-
China’s soccer officials may suspend the Super League after an outbreak of swine flu at one team.
Players and staff of Chongqing Lifan, including Dutch coach Arie Haan, were confined to their training base in western China after 11 players tested positive for the H1N1 virus, the newspaper Titan Sports reported Friday.
Chinese Football Association organizers are considering a series of contingencies for outbreaks, including suspending the season, said Titan, citing association documents.
Such quarantines are usually lifted after one week if no one else tests positive for the virus. Chongqing’s confinement began on Thursday, it said.
It is said Swine Flu in China so far has been pretty mild. The reaction of local officials isn’t a match. If you believe Chinese propaganda news reports, no one has died of the H1N1 virus in the country. Then why place a soccer team or even an entire hotel under quarantine?
Did the bribe fail because the Rolex was a fake?* From AP-
Four officials of the Mongolia team were expelled from the world boxing championships Thursday for allegedly trying to bribe a referee with a watch.
The Mongolian boxers, their coaches and team doctor were allowed to stay in Milan until the championships end Saturday, the International Amateur Boxing Association said on its Web site.
AIBA’s code of ethics says any gifts offered to a referee must be authorized. Gifts can be exchanged “only as a mark of respect or friendship” but must have a nominal value.
AIBA spokesman Richard Baker said the Mongolian delegation violated the code by the manner in which the watch was offered, and because it hadn’t been cleared by AIBA.
“Depending on how it was done, these things can be approved,” he said. In the Mongolian case, “it wasn’t done with transparency.”
The code of conduct first took effect during the Beijing Olympics. It was designed to “eliminate any potential of suspicion” that gifts might affect the outcome of a match, Baker said.
I find it interesting gifts can be allowed. Even authorized ones look like an attempt to sway officials in their decision making. That’s just my humble opinion.
